I’ve explored the phenomenon of the kick a little before but with recent
research and with the fact worlds has just happened, let’s explore the kick
phenomenon a bit more. First, let’s look
at what actually happens physiologically, and then what we can do about it.

The physiology of the kick:

Energy systems dynamics:

An interesting new study sheds some more light on why we
might be able to run faster, particularly at the end of a race. You can read about it here (LINK) but they
took cyclist and had them do either solo time trials or against a computer
which was really their previous selves.
What they found was that when racing someone, they were able to increase
their speed and the sole reason was the anaerobic energy component. In other words, the cyclists used the same
amount of energy aerobically, but in the faster trial they were able to tap
into more of their anaerobic capacity.
This has implications in regards to motivation which we’ll discuss
shortly, but for now lets look at what this and other research means for the
kick in terms of energetic.

If we define the kick as the last 100-400m or so of the race
where the pace is increased you have to look at two factors in terms of what
effects the kick.